When Melinda and I were first “dating” (I put that in quotes because I’m not sure if Melinda & I have ever really had a date – learn more here), I created a little cartoon character for when I left her messages. The character was called Heartman and he was quite simple to draw, consisting of a heart, stick figure limbs, and a round head featuring a baseball cap, goatee and glasses. I’d draw a very simple (emphasis on both very and simple) picture of Heartman at a restaurant, for instance, and caption it with, “Heartman had fun eating sushi with Melinda.”

When Chloe was in kindergarten Heartman made a comeback. Included in the sack lunch I made for her each day was a little Heartman comic on a sticky note. Each comic consisted of something that Chloe and I had recently done, “Heartman and Chloe are watching the Brady Bunch on Nick at Night,” that sort of thing.

So anytime I see a graffiti heart I get a little excited. And I spotted this one yesterday while Dana, Melinda and I were munching on the sandwiches we had for lunch. I got up and took this picture of it. A few minutes later as we were walking, Dana tried to direct my attention to some really impressive graffiti. I thought she said, “Andy, look at that graffiti heart.” I was excited and looked all about me, not spotting it. I think she thought I was blind because she said, “There, right in front of you.” Turns out what she was directing me to was some impressive graffiti ART.

You see, I’ve become so accustomed to hearing French that I assume certain words (like art, I guess) have a silent H. Still, my character will never be known as Artman. You see, I’m kind of art-impaired…